SJSU Department of Meterorology


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Friday, January 4, 2008: Major Storm Hits California

On Friday, January 4th, 2008 a major low pressure system developed off the coast of Oregon. The storm bottomed out at 956 mb. This created a strong pressure gradient over most of Northern and Central California and created very windy conditions. The strong winds were widespread as indicated by the table below showing peak wind gusts in MPH from airpost around Northern California. The storm also brought heavy rain and tremendous mountain snows. But really what made this storm special was the wind. This was the strongest wind storm since December 12, 1995.

Airport	City	Wind Gust
SFO	San Francisco	68 mph
SJC	San Jose	51 mph
OAK	Oakland	62 mph
MTR	Monterey	56 mph
SAC	Sacramento	62 mph
SCK	Stockton	60 mph
RDD	Redding	70 mph

Peak gust reported in Northern California :

Ward Mountain near Lake Tahoe: 165 MPH
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The image below shows Jet Stream winds overlayed on IR imagery at 10:00 AM Friday, January 4, 2008:

The image below shows shows surface pressure isobars and predicted accumulated 6 hour precipitation at 10:00 AM Friday, January 4, 2008:

The image below is from Sunday morning, January 6 at Caples Lake Resort (near Kirkwood). A whopping 8 to 11 feet of snow fell on the mountain at Kirkwood Ski Resort between January 3rd and January 6th.

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